Senate Passes $60.4 Billion for Storm Aid; Bill’s Fate in House Is Unclear

WASHINGTON — The Senate approved $60.4 billion in emergency spending on Friday to pay for recovery efforts in states ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, at one point fending off a Republican bid to reduce the aid package by more than half.

But it is unclear that the House will act on the measure before Congress adjourns for the year.

The bill passed 62 to 32, largely along party lines, with 12 Republicans joining 50 Democrats to support it.

Yet the outcome in the Senate provided little comfort to the bill’s supporters, who said that inaction in the Republican-controlled House could kill chances for Congress to pass an aid package this year to states struggling to recover from the storm, which hit the area in late October.

In last-minute appeals, leaders from the hurricane-battered region urged the House to act in the few days that remain in the current Congressional session, saying states desperately need a large and quick infusion of aid to continue with cleanup and rebuilding efforts.

In a measure of the pressure the House is under, Govs. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York and Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut, both Democrats, joined with Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican, to send a letter to every representative urging them to pass the relief package.

“The question to each and every member of the House is, If this storm had struck your constituency and devastated it the way Sandy has ours, would you say that the House has done enough?” they wrote.

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said, “For the House to go home without taking up this bill would be unconscionable.”

New York’s other senator, Kirsten E. Gillibrand, also a Democrat, echoed the sentiment. “This funding is essential to getting the Northeast back up on its feet,” Senator Gillibrand said.

But senior Congressional officials said it was unclear how top House Republicans would respond, since they were consumed with negotiations with President Obama and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill to reach an agreement intended to avert a series of large tax increases and spending cuts that go into effect at the start of the year.

The relief bill approved by the Senate closely resembles a plan that Mr. Obama introduced a few weeks ago proposing emergency aid for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other states affected by the storm.

The $60.4 billion bill falls short of the $82 billion that the region’s governors have said would be needed to help their states clean up and rebuild. Yet it does address various pressing needs.

The bill provides money to help homeowners and small-business owners rebuild; to repair bridges, tunnels and transportation systems; to reimburse local governments for overtime costs of police, fire and other emergency services; and to replenish shorelines.

But the bill has provoked concerns, primarily among House Republicans, that may be extremely hard to overcome given the compressed calendar that lawmakers are facing before the current Congress adjourns in the next few days.

During the debate leading up to the Senate vote, Democrats defeated a Republican amendment that would have cut the relief package to about $24 billion.

Among other things, Republicans argue that the spending package was put together hurriedly, without enough time for hearings and debate over whether all the projects qualify as genuine emergency items.

Some Republicans are also concerned about the impact such a big-ticket spending package will have on the already-strained Treasury — and believe the bill should ultimately be paid for with cuts in other programs.

The Senate bill does not identify a way to pay for the aid, meaning its cost will be added to the federal deficit. Supporters of the bill note that it is a longstanding practice for the government to respond to emergencies swiftly without simultaneously addressing the impact that response has on the federal budget.

Still, several leading Republicans — including Representative Harold Rogers of Kentucky, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee — have argued that the aid should be released in installments. They note that states cannot spend all the money they need at once and that a clearer and more accurate picture of their needs will emerge over time.

But that approach is worrisome to lawmakers from the region hit by the hurricane, who fear that emergency aid will become less of a priority for Congress as lawmakers turn to other matters in the coming months.

A version of this article appears in print on December 29, 2012, on page A15 of the New York edition with the headline: Senate Passes $60.4 Billion for Storm Aid; Bill’s Fate in House Is Unclear. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe